Storms knock out power, lightning sparks fires

More than 10,000 homes and businesses throughout the state were without power after thunderstorms tore through the region Monday morning, bringing intense wind gusts that took down trees and wires and caused flooding in local streets and on regional roadways.

At about 10:45 a.m. the highest concentration of outages was in Kent, where more than 2,000 customers -- more than 95 percent of the town -- was in the dark. There were also about 1,100 outages in Danbury and about 850 in New Milford.

Power was restored by Monday afternoon.

CL&P spokesman Mitch Gross said the outages in Kent and New Milford were caused by damage to a substation that he said it would take several hours to repair.

The other outages throughout the state were all caused by a combination of downed wires and lightning strikes, Gross said.

In Stamford, police shut down the southbound lane of Long Ridge Road after a 13,000-volt power line came down and caught fire near the intersection of Long Ridge and Midrocks Drive.

Traffic is expected to be congested in the area for several more hours as CL&P crews worked to restore power to about 145 homes that lost power after the wire came down.

"(The wire) was dancing," said Stamford Fire & Rescue Capt. Mike Repp. "It was coming out of the bushes, so we blocked the southbound lane. It was spectacular."

State police received numerous reports of weather-related hazards on the area's roadways, including significant flooding on the Merritt Parkway near exit 48 in Trumbull and a downed tree on the southbound Parkway between exits 53 and 52 in Stratford that forced police to shut down one lane of traffic.

Metro-North trains were delayed by up to a half hour throughout the morning after a wire was struck by lightning and came down onto the tracks at the Southport train station.

There were numerous reports of buildings being struck by lightning, though in southwestern Connecticut there were no reported injuries caused by the strikes.

Rescue crews in North Stonington responded to reports of several people injured by lightning at the Lake of Isles golf course. Nine people were taken to hospitals, according to hospital spokesmen. Their conditions weren't available, but a golf course official said they were expected to be OK.

The golf course's general manager, Archie Cart, said two workers were knocked down on the South Course when lightning struck near them as they headed for shelter, and some other workers who were inside an enclosed, grounded building had to be treated when lightning hit nearby.

Hospital and fire officials said 11 people were taken to area hospitals from the golf course. Some were released, but a precise number could not be determined without patient names.

Cart, who said 15 people were sent for evaluations, said no one was playing golf at the time, and none of the workers was hit directly by lightning.

The nasty weather should subside by the evening, however, when temperatures are expected to drop into the 50s, from earlier highs in the mid-70s.

Intermittent rain is expected throughout the rest of the week, but the weekend should be relatively dry.

Here's the full forecast from WTNH meteorologist Gil Simmons:

TODAY: Downpours likely with thunder re-developing this morning and again this afternoon. Some storms could be severe with damaging winds and localized flooding. Highs only 75-78 with high humidity.

TONIGHT: Clearing with patchy fog areas. Less humid and refreshing with lows in the 50s.

TUESDAY: Sun and clouds with a spotty P.M. shower/storm. Highs in the middle 70s.

WEDNESDAY: Mostly sunny. Mostly dry with a few spot showers across Eastern CT. Highs in the 70s.

THURSDAY: Mostly sunny. Highs 80-85.

FRIDAY: Sun and P.M. clouds. Very humid with a spotty P.M. shower/T-storm. Highs 82-92.

SATURDAY: Partly to mostly sunny & humid. Highs 88-92.

SUNDAY: Sun and clouds. Highs 83-87.

MONDAY: Sun and clouds. Spotty P.M. shower/Thunder. Highs 80-85.

For a more detailed forecast visit http://www.wtnh.com/subindex/weather.